


It’s Still A—

by ForgottenChesire



Series: Christmas '19 [11]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Inspired by Person of Interest, M/M, deaged characters, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25657330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForgottenChesire/pseuds/ForgottenChesire
Summary: Sam is sitting there, hazel eyes sparkling as he shakes something. There is something about it that makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up. And then it hits him.“That is a grenade, Robert!”Sam gives the grenade a shake, laughing happily and shoving one hand into his mouth. Robert, one hand pushing Dean back the other reaching out, hunches up his shoulders.
Relationships: Crowley/Bobby Singer
Series: Christmas '19 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603357
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	It’s Still A—

**Author's Note:**

> Very, very, very late Christmas present that I hope is worth the wait.

_ “How are the boys doing?” _

Crowley looks up from his fifth attempt at a pie crust. Dean is at his hip, smaller and admittedly cuter than normal, green eyes wide and fingers sticky. He watches raptly as Crowley tries to get it to lay flat in the pan so that he can add the apples. The demon smacks a reaching hand and thanks the inventiveness of humans. His cellphone is next to the apple scraps. Robert’s voice is tiny but undeniable.

“Just fine. Dean demanded a pie and Sam-“

Crowley turns. Eyes going to the circle of books where he plopped the deaged moose when he entered the kitchen. The dusty,  _ heavy _ , books are still there but the human baby that  _ should  _ be there is not. There is a section of the circle that has been knocked over.

“Uh-oh,” Dean says, oh, so helpfully. 

_ “Uh-oh? What does Dean mean by uh-oh? Is something wrong with Sam?” _

Crowley doesn’t pinch his nose. He doesn’t ground himself for the barrage of cussing that’s about to come through the phone. He is a demon, a powerful demon who deals in souls and breeds hellhounds. And those would be the actions of a human.

“Darling… you better get back here.”

Dean learns at least three ‘new’ words that he chants like a heathen before Crowley is able to turn off the speaker phone option and hang up when nothing useful like ‘of course, Crowley, I’ll be right there’ or ‘I’ve got a lead on the witches who cursed the boys, so I’m sending Juliet back to you instead’ is forthcoming. He stares down the little boy who has managed to get the caramel off of the counter and all over his face, while still chanting ‘pecker bitch bastard’ and prays to the unholy powers for patience. 

“Let’s go find your brother, Squirrel.”

Robert announces his arrival home with the slam of a door and a very loud;

“How do you lose a baby!?”

“He knocked over the books and walked off.”

Robert presses a kiss to Crowley’s cheek in greeting. His eyes are wild, darting every which way but he’s still calmer than the parents in the cartoons Dean insists on watching. If Crowley gets his hands on those witches they will wish for a merciful death. There are very few humans that Crowley likes. Less so that he’s willing to admit that he likes. And these three, they are at the top of the list.

“He can’t walk. Juliet is out searching the yard,” the human says softly, barely noticing the stickiness on Dean’s hands as the not -toddler-but-not-child latches onto him.

**_That_** _will go well,_ Crowley thinks with a snort. Especially since Juliet has taken Robert’s ‘no supernatural shit around the kids’ to heart and will be in her attempt at looking like a normal dog… with very large teeth which scares Sam. If anything happens to Sam, Robert will never forgive him. The thought is painful in a way that the demon hasn’t felt in a long time. 

He’s halfway into the leaning fort of books that Dean and Robert made two days ago when he hears Robert talking.

“Give it to me now, Sammy. Come on, don’t be an idjit.”

“You found him?” He calls out. Trying to wiggle his way out.

The fort loses a few books and one ‘tower’ topples over, but he manages to wiggle free and follows the sound of Robert and Dean’s voices.

Sam is sitting there, hazel eyes sparkling as he shakes something. There is something about it that makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up. And then it hits him.

“That is a grenade, Robert!”

Sam gives the grenade a shake, laughing happily and shoving one hand into his mouth. Robert, one hand pushing Dean back the other reaching out, hunches up his shoulders.

“Ain’t an actual one. Just… just a-“ 

He manages to take the grenade away from Sammy who giggles and makes other baby noises as he reaches for Crowley.

“It’s just a holy water and rock salt grenade,” Robert finishes. He sounds relieved, like the fact it wasn’t a-

Crowley swoops in, picking up Sam with grace he doubts he had with Gavin. 

“It’s still a grenade!”

He checks over Sammy, allowing Robert who has picked up Dean to do the same. The old hunter has bags under his eyes. Too many sleepless nights looking for the witches and dealing with the occasional nightmare when he’s the one at home with the boys.

“I know. Fuck. Shoulda moved them when we brought the boys home. Balls.”

“Balls,” Dean parrots back because he likes copying Robert.

Laughter is probably not the response most parents would have to their child saying ‘balls’... But they aren’t conventional parents nor are they really parents to the two very young children who cling to them. Crowley kisses Robert softly to the background music of Dean pretending to gag. They stay huddled together until both the boys get antsy.

“Pie! Please Uncle Bobby?”

The pie that Robert manages to cobble together is exactly that. Cobbled together. Crowley’s attempt at a pie, while baked with Robert’s, falls apart and only Dean really wants to chance eating it. Neither of them are bakers. Neither of them are parents. But in this moment, with Sam drooling on his chest and Dean clutching both his and Robert’s hands, pie smeared over his face as he stares awed at cartoon dinosaurs, Crowley thinks they could be. The dinosaurs on the screen are looking for or running from something called a cold fire something? Crowley has been paying more attention to other things. Like Robert’s arm over his shoulder. The wetness of the drool soaking his shirt. This is life. Humanity. And for the first time in a long time… Crowley is enjoying it. Reveling in it. 

It won’t last. They’ll find the witch or witches that cursed the boys. Leaving the otherwise dangerous hunters defenseless. It was only blind luck that Crowley had been on the phone with Moose when it happened. And when they find those witches the curse will be broken and this cozy illusion of a family will be broken. He’ll take what he can though.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:  
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